The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful holders of that position in US history. Whereas many vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I had faith then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memo outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (including "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's face that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were both weak or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? It's a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars while military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
